MSNBC has a great story about a program to give returning vets with PTSD something to live for, something to care for.
Pets to Vets
According to the too short story, one veteran came home and found himself waking up in the middle of the night and found himself beating on the walls and furniture. He received a dog and that made all the difference.
He could tell the dog all the things he could not tell to another human. The dog loves him and does not judge him.
Then one day, the former Air Force senior airman went with a friend to a local pit bull rescue and took home a puppy, Cheyenne. Next time he found himself kicking something, "I saw this puppy, cocking her head, looking up at me, like, what are you doing?"
Finally, Sharpe had someone he could open up to. "I froze, I put down my drink, I picked her up and laid with her in my bed," he said. "I cried and I told her the whole story. I didn't feel judged."
He decided that others needed that same rescue (the vets, not the puppies!)
He has started pets2vets matching people with PTSD with shelter dogs.
It is estimated that 10,000,000 have PTSD. And those people and some people with brain injury trauma do not qualify for service dogs.
It is a win-win situation for the shelter and the vets, Weitzman says: "We provide them a healing environment, to continue their recovery, but they also help our animals, many of which are recovering from traumas themselves."
With the success of their pilot program, Pets2Vets plans to expand early next year to additional shelters in the DC area and then across the country in partnership with local veterans organizations.
I think we should get behind this and get it going big time. PTSD can cause our valuable members of society to become less valuable and healing can be slow.
Here is the link for the new organization.
Pets2vets link